Disappointed with my hair.. should I just box dye?

[Wellybobs2]

I’ve just spend 3 hours in the salon to turn my highlights into balayage and paid £63. It looks the exact same as before!! Before is in the blue dress and the miserable one is today!
I’m so annoyed I’m tempted to just do a box dye and do it myself from now on. I can’t justify spending that much for it to always look the same or not turn out how I want it. What do you think?

To be honest it does look very similar but looks gorgeous in both pictures.

Do not box dye!

It does look much blonder at the bottom section on the new pic. Is that what you were after?

It looks like a,nice balayage IMO

I’d go back to the salon and explain it’s not what you expected

And don’t box dye

Leave it ! The box dye will ruin it

I haven’t had any bleach/lightening treatment on my hair as I want to try and get my hair in better condition. She put foils all over with a dark brown but I assume she maybe didn’t go far enough down? I’ll show you the photo I showed her. Thanks for the comments saying it looks nice, I’ve been so fed up about it today as OH asked me if I’d had it done! xx

I am a fan of box dye but do not do it over fresh highlights. If you're disappointed i would ask the hairdresser if they can do something to fix it

It looks much better than a box dye would.

Having had balayage for years, I've now gone back to simple old half a head highlights as it's cheaper and I don't notice the difference all that much.

It's not the same. Maybe the balyage is more subtle than you'd like but it's noticeable. Looks a really good job actually. Your hair looked a bit streaky before.

This is what I showed them.
Is box dye that bad for your hair? I am thinking about it because then at least I would be able to tell I’ve had it done! I feel so awkward going back to the salon and I can’t afford to pay any extra I don’t know how to say - I want it redoing but I don’t have a penny to spare!

Yes my friend just had balayage instead of her usual highlights and it looked exactly the same.

Thank you all again for the comments, making me feel maybe it wasn’t a total waste of cash x

I'd call and ask and get hairdresser to explain. Maybe it would need bleach for a more noticeable effect.
It is nicer in first pic I think - I'd feel like I'd wasted money.

Definitely not a waste

Similar happened to a colleague and as her hair grew longer it looked even better

It looks absolutely lovely. It would be a waste, in my opinion, to put a box dye over it. Perhaps change your style if you're after more of a change? Wave it like the pic with your straighteners?

Box dye isn’t the devil but it does have a few cons.

Box dye isnt like salon dye, in salons we mix it to work with your current colour.
You also don’t know/have no control of the strength of developer in a box dye, potentially causing damage when you’ve only just had your hair done.

Thanks everyone. I just expected it to be more of a noticeable difference I think which is why I was quite disappointed. I think I might just leave it for now and just learn by my mistakes and go to another salon next time. I’m getting married next year so want it to be in the best condition it can be as it got very thin after have my DS so I want to avoid bleach all I can x

I think if you waved it like in the picture you took in you would see the difference. It would show the contrast between colours.

Hi op.
You've not got what you asked for here. I'd go back and ask them to look again. You've got visible highlights at the root and that is not what you asked for.
Have you got a pic of the full hair as the ends aren't showing on your recent pic?
Maybe try washing and drying yourself and see how it falls, but I agree, it isn't what you asked for and I think your roots could be a bit more prominent, however, your hair is lovely regardless if you're happy to just leave it be.

Tried to get some better pics - denim jacket is before and the other is just now x

I think the balayage looks better, and it does look like balayage. As it grows out it will look good, and you can try curling it with GHDs for a more obvious balayage effect.

I think they should have placed some lights around the face and fringe to balance it all out. Highlights look a bit random to me though.

You’re gorgeous :)

To get the effect in the photo you showed they would need to balayage the under layers as well as on top to get the more dramatic transition (I have this). It’s impossible to get the graduated effect with only highlighting the top layers. I would also expect them to have placed some balayage highlights around the front.

I don’t think they’ve done a good job at balayage though it does still look nice

This photo shows good balayage. You can see that the underneath has been highlighted snd there’s a gradual transition from dark roots to light ends rather than just highlights blended through